The 75th Hunger Games
by TheSuperiorDuck
Summary: What if all of the contestants for the 74th Hunger Games had been picked for the 75th Hunger Games, having three tributes instead of two? Ken, a teen in District Twelve, has found himself to become friends with Katniss and Peeta, now going to the Games.
1. Chapter 1: The Life I Loved

OCC: this is going to be the 75th hunger games, Three tributes from each District are going to be in it for the quell. The quell for the 50th games was having only victors take part in the reaping. All of the original characters in the 74th hunger games will be in this one, and customs will be made for the other twenty four. Some events will remain the same as in the book, while other events could be changed. For example: Katniss and Peeta could be the very first people to die in this story from the massive amount of players.

District Twelve was as gloomy as it had ever been. Massive amounts of groups filed with poor citizens had occupied the dirty city streets as usual. If one even had one sign of being rich or middle class, one would beg to the point of bowing in order to get something to eat, now that's saying something. Ken had been walking about through the dusty city streets as he looked for something to do, but not a thing had came to mind during the time. In some parts of the town, you would notice some children crying hysterically, being protected through hugs powered by love that had came from their parents.

"Oh, no wonder they're crying. The Reaping is going to come any day now." he said to himself as he scanned the horizon. Yes, the Reaping was what hunted all of the families that had clustered this place. For Districts One, Two, Three, and Four, the Hunger Games are the best way to show ones strength by pulverizing and annihilating anyone that threatens your existence in this world. Out of the Twelve Districts, a male and a female from ages twelve to eighteen are drawn in order to participate in these Games. The only exception of this is if it is a Quarter Quell, in which special things are changed about the Games in order to enhance the entertainment for the Capitol; the people who rule over Panem, the country replacing North America.

"I think I may have thirty names in for the drawing...if I get picked, I'll just have to make the best of it..." said the fourteen year old as he released a small sigh into the atmosphere before he continued his small journey around the city streets. Ken didn't have much of a family that would worry about him if he did get Reaped, only his father and sister. His mother had died from a somewhat harmless in the eyes of Capitol, but it had been extremely deadly around these parts of Panem. Not being able to afford medical treatment, Ken's mother had died of a slow and painful death. Some of these memories had passed through the boy's mind as he started to make his way back home and headed towards the gates.

In District Twelve, the gates were what forced us in a cluster, remaining in solitude from the outside world. His father had used a bunch of threats towards the blonde haired Ken to make sure he wouldn't go over the fence, but he simply passed them off as all bark and no bite. Being naturally stealthy and nimble, he was always easily climbing over the fence without anyone noticing a thing, which was obviously for the best. Even if the boy thought his father was quite harmless, he did not wish to create a hell hole in what he thought was his home. Along with that, Ken's sister would be in an endless crying fit if his father ever did anything as punishment directed at the teenager.

"It's a little warm outside today, it actually feels nice." the boy said with a small grin implanted onto his face as he breathed in the fresh air that had surrounded him and not the dusty and toxic particles of District Twelve's coal mines. Mockingjays could be heard spreading their wonderful melodies from tree to tree when he directed himself into the depths of the forest. Suddenly, he could hear some banter going on not too far from here. In defense, Ken Clove had took his knife out swiftly, ready to kill anyone if necessary.

Using a nearby tree as cover, he slowly moved his head to the right to see who he was hearing. Oh. It was none other than Katniss Everdeen; the young teenage girl who was around sixteen years of age that had went to the same school and was in the same grade as him. Being in the same grade as her at his age was due to him skipping ahead two years of school with the help of his incredible and respectable intelligence. They were even in the same classes, well for a few, but they had not communicated much since they never had a need to do so. Because of this, neither of them had known much about the other, or is was more like Katniss did not know much about Ken.

Katniss Everdeen had been extremely popular at school since she would also go past the gates and hunt and bring the food back to her starving family. While everyone had thought she was very noble and brave from doing this, he simply passed it aside as if it wasn't nothing. Sure, she did something that not many people from all the Districts would think of doing, but it wasn't like it was hard to get past these gates. The only thing you needed to not get caught was to not be a lizard brained Neanderthal. Other than that, the rest was pretty easy from there.

"So it's just her...I guess she's just hunting stuff for her family." the boy mumbled to himself very quietly as he chose to go at another direction, away from Katniss and the unknown male that he had been talking with. At the moment, he did not feel obligated to exchange a variety of banter with people he hardly associated himself with before. So he went on his merry way and explored the deep forest with melodies circulating throughout the canopies of the trees. The deeper he went, he had found some berries that he had shared with his sister numerous of times. You could buy these in the District Twelve markets, but they had still been pretty expensive. Logically, one would just come out here to take the berries, but poaching off the Capitol's land, anything not in the fences could and would get you killed under normal circumstances. Thinking ahead, Ken always brought plastic bags to stuff the small delicacies into in which he'd bring them home to eat with his sister. He'd gladly share with his father, but that would give out the secret that he has been traveling around outside the gates for a good while now.

"I can give these to May once I get home, that is if Father is asleep by then..." the boy mumbled with a slight smile on his face as he continued to collect the delicate round objects into the plastic opaque bags. Before it got dark, the boy decided to go to the bakery with a decent amount of berry filled bags and hope to strike a bargain with the baker there. It was often that the boy was able to afford stuff from there, so he had to forage a few things in order to get anything from there. Luckily, the store owner had gave Ken a bit of a discount considering how young he was to even be collecting from the outside forests.

After about an hour of walking, Ken Clove was now in front of the wood chipped building that had housed the baker and his family. In there was the baker, his wife, and his son named Peeta. Usually when he came there, he'd see the wife bustling around baking bread, the husband baking and selling the bread, and Peeta baking and feeding their little bit of livestock that they owned. Today, the shop had been fairly quiet, maybe a customer or two had came every few hours. Ken opened the door which led him into the building, seeing the baker and his son getting ready to make dough for some deserts to sell.

"Oh Ken, it's nice to see you!" the shop owner had said in an optimistic and enthusiastic tone as he whiped his hands clean with a rag and shook the teenager's hand with a firm grip. The boy gave a smile since it was common courtesy to do so.

"So, do you have anything for me today?" he asked looked over his shoulder to make sure Peeta was doing as he was supposed to for the time being. Ken slowly took out ten fairly big bags of the berries he had collected in the forest. The baker looked pretty surprised and happy at the same time, it wasn't like he got these everyday.

"Well that's a bit of a surprise, so how much do you want for them?" the man asked.

"I'd like to have at least half a dozen of cupcakes baked with some of the berries if that would be possible. Also, could you put a cluster of yellow daises on each of them, my sister loves the color yellow a good bit." requested Clove in a polite and respectable tone.

"Sure, Peeta's an even better cake decorator than I am so he'll be doing the work." the father said before he turned his gaze towards his son.

"Won't you be able to do that Peeta?"

"Yes, I'll get started just as soon as I finish kneeing the dough." the boy said as the trusted his elbows against the gooey and powdery substance until it had a nice refined shape to it. He dusted his hands off with his stained white apron before he got the essential ingredients to create the cake batter. Deciding to sit around for the time being, Ken was about to take a seat until he heard a loud sound from outside. It was of a young girl's giggling as she opened the store doors and ran around the interior of the building. It was none other than Ken's sister May.

"Hey May!" Ken said as he ran towards his sister and took her up into his arms and spun around. She had released a symphony of laughs before he had been released back onto the ground for the time being.

"Hi brother!" she said before she looked at Peeta.

"Peeta can we play today?" she asked with a small giggle as she tugged on his apron. Although Ken and Peeta did not communicate that much, May thought of Peeta as another older brother that she could always play with when Ken was busy. The older male gave a small laugh as he bent down to give the young blonde haired girl a hug and released her.

"Sorry, but I have a bit of work to do before I can play with you." he said with a small smile as he continued to mix the cake batter in a bowl by hand. She now had a small frown on her face when this had came through her ears. Trying to reassure his sister, Ken bent down and placed his hands on May's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Peeta's working on a little surprise I had for you." he said in a tranquil tone.

"Your big brother's right. Why don't you go play outside or feed the pigs in the meantime?" said Peeta.

"A surprise? What is it what is it?" she asked constantly with laughts interrupting a few of the words.

"If we told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" asked Ken as he playfully poked May in the stomach.

"Okay, I can't wait. Good bye Peeta!" she said with an innocent laugh as she headed out the door as fast as lightning.

"Thanks Peeta, you don't know how much it makes her day when she gets stuff like this."

"No problem, you have to admit she's pretty cute." he said which Ken replied with a small laugh. He certainly was right, May was one of the youngest and cutest girls that you could find around the interior of District Twelve. Not all of the cute people had to come from those Career Districts like One, Two, Three, and Four. What most people thought around here was what the Career Districts had in power and wealth, we had in our values. This was one reason why those Districts were usually shunned by the other ten.

After the small exchange of words with Peeta, Ken had ran off to the outside world of District Twelve and took the breath air in once more. However, you could still detect the faint scent of bread in this land of nature. No, it wasn't bad. In fact, it had been pretty pleasant to take in that alluring smell for the nose and enjoy it's nourishment.

"Big brother over here!" May yelled with her cheerful voice as she pointed at a tree and noticed a Mockingjay nest housed on one of the tree branches. Clove had released a small smile as he sat down on the ground with May and observed the actions of the male and female Mockingjays fluttering about. It was quite relaxing, laying on the warm green grass as the blazing sun had warmed their bodies. They had continued to talk back and forth for about two hours until Peeta had opened the store doors and made his way outside.

"Hey May, I've got your surprise made and done!" he said with a hint of joy and pride in his voice. The young girl didn't waste any time as she got up and ran through the doors. The teenager that was her older brother had laughed a little and he went and followed her fast enough to see the surprise look on her face. The young blonde haired girl had placed her hands upon her mouth in awe of the glorious creation. The base color of the icing on each of the cupcakes had been yellow, but the daisies were what made them so perplexing. The leaves and the flower petals themselves had looked so realistic, the sparkling dust on them only adding to their previous perfection.

"Thanks Peeta!" she said as she ran up to the taller gentleman and held him tight as he swung her around a bit. They both exchanged a laughs while Ken remained silent and smling.

"Don't worry, you've been good and deserve them." he said with a cheerful tone as he released her down onto the ground and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. She turned to her older brother Ken and played with her fingers daintily.

"Can I have one now brother?" she asked so innocently as if she was a lost puppy with no future.

"Of course you can have one." the boy said with a small chuckle before the young girl quickly took two cupcakes and shoved one into Ken and Peeta's hands.

"Brother paid for them and Peeta made them so you two deserve one!" she said with a giggle as she took one and started to nibble on it like a mouse. Both boys looked at each other and shared a shrug before both of them had joyfully bitten into their sweets.

"These taste really good Peeta." said Ken after he had swallowed a small fraction of his professionally decorated cupcake.

"Oh it's nothing..." said Peeta as he blushed a bit from the massive amount of admiration for his creations.

"No they really do taste good Peeta!" said May with a laugh, yellow icing staining her once pink lips. The trio had ate their cupcakes slowly, savoring the flavor of the sweet delicacy before they got to the very end.

"Well it's getting dark so I better get May home. It was nice talking to you Peeta, thanks for the cupcakes." Ken said as he started to place the cupcakes in a plastic contained and placed them in a black bag so his father would not notice them.

"Bye Peeta!" yelled the teenager's sister cheerfully as she started to walk home with her older and more mature brother. She nibled on one last berry that she took from her cupcake and swallowed it as if it was the best thing that she ever had the honor of tasting.

"Bye..." Peeta said sadly as he waved goodbye and started to return to his normal duties, getting yelled at by his mother for letting the bread in one of the ovens burn.


	2. Chapter 2: Are We Acquaintances?

A few days had passed ever since Ken had made his trip to Peeta's bakery. Brother and sister had both finished the sweet delicacies at a considerably fast pace so they wouldn't have to continue hiding them from their father. Today was a pretty nice day as well, the sun was shinning and the flying Mockingjays had been spreading their joyfull melodies all around the city. However, tomorrow was one of the worst days to come for District Twelve. It was the one thing that all the families had ever feared, the Reaping. Yes, it was going to come tomorrow and force all of the Districts to give up a male and female child from the families here.

"I guess I'll be walking through the forest again today..." thought the boy as he got up and readied himself for the day. He was wearing a white short sleeved T-Shirt and black jeans. He quietly equipped his white tennis shoes and made his merry way out of the door. He felt the warm USV rays shining against his body as he quietly went over the gate and ran deeper into the forest. Hearing the sounds of the birds, he soon began to hum it by himself as he toured through the tree infested land.

After a bit of traveling, he stopped at his feet and slowly looked ahead to find what he heard. Of course, it was once again, none other than Katniss Everdeen. She had aimed her arrow directly at a squirrel's eye and was ready to let go any minute. Ken, being a bit bored, decided to sneakily walk towards here to the point where he was five feet behind her and watched her let go of the arrow. It had hit the squirrel directly through the eyes, what accuracy she had acquired over the years.

"You have nice aim." the boy said, greatly startling the teenage girl as she had quickly turned around and aimed her arrow at his neck. Soon discovering it was a boy from her class, she let the bow down and began to walk towards her new meal.

"You travel past the gates?" she asked out of curiosity. It would certainly have been a surprise for her to see someone of his age walking past these gates at all. The teenage boy simply looked up high into the sky before answering her question.

"It's not that difficult, and there's plenty of things to scavenge for so why wouldn't I?" said Ken as he nibbled on a few berries that he had brought along with himself. Katniss had acquired her new squirrel corpse before she talked with Ken once more.

"It's just that it's rare to see anyone past these gates at all. Do you hunt the animals here or do you just scavenge the fruits and roots here?" asked KAtniss.

"I just get massive amounts of fruits and roots. Once I have enough, I trade them in for things like bread and meat. Just a few days ago I had traded in a good bit of berries at the bakery for some cupcakes for my sister." said the boy blandly as he observed the newly caught creature the girl now owned.

"I see..." said the hunter in a somewhat quiet voice. The two continued to venture out in the forest, not daring to speak about the Reaping which would commence tomorrow. In both of their minds however, they wondered who would be the poor folk who would partake in these Games

The male and female duo had been traversing the woodlands for quite a few hours now. She managed to get four squirrels and two rabbits with the help of her bow and her snares. Ken on the other hand had gotten about twelve full bags of assorted nuts, berries, and of them had talked a small bit about their family life and a few other things such as how they gathered food. When they got to this topic, had even suggested her teaching Ken how to set snares if he would give her a bit of his gathered fruits, which he immediately agreed to do so.

After a few hours of practice and seeing the snares themselves work at hand, Ken had gifted Katniss with his part of the bargain. Seeing that the sun was starting to lower a bit after all the time that they spent in the forest, Ken started to take the rest of the supplies her brought and be on his way.

"Thanks for teaching me how to set those snares, hope you enjoy those berries." the blonde haired boy said as he started to wave goodbye.

"Don't worry I will." said Katniss as she waved goodbye and started to make her way back home as well. Now Ken could actually feed his family more with these snares, a great thing he had acquired from the young woman. The boy was now proudly carrying two dead squirrels in his hands and a few bags of berries in his pockets. He had decided that today would be the day that he told his father about the adventures he partook in the forests on a daily basis. At the moment, he had not really cared much for what he thought or what he would do. The only thing he was glade about was that he could feed his family by scavenging for berries and getting small creatures that would fill up a bit of their empty stomachs.

After a few minutes of walking through the forest which was lit up by the orange sun in the pink sky, Ken was now in the front of his old wooden house where his sister was playing about in the front yard. He had gave a small laugh to seeing this before he opened the door to his residence and searched for his father.

"Dad?" he asked not being able to locate his parental figure within the wooden structure. He looked around and finally noticed that he was in the kitchen preparing their dinner for the night.

"Yeah I'm here." he said as he was making some soup for the family meal. Soup was a meal that all of the Cloves had ate on a regular basis. It was cheap and easy to make, soon enough becoming the daily meal.

"Well I have some stuff to show you..." said Ken as he laid out the two dead squirrels and the few bags on the kitchen counter. The adolescent's father had eyes of amazement and surprise. He turned his head towards the food on the kitchen counter and then back to Ken. He didn't know what to think of this.

"Where did you get all of this?" he asked as he examined each of the meal tickets.

"Well I have been going through the forests past the gates for quite a while...-" said Ken before he was interrupted by his father.

"You what?" he yelled but not enough for May to hear outside of theb uilding.

"I met up with that girl Katniss and we ended up trading, berries for snares. It's not that hard to get past the fence and there's no security out there what so ever." said the boy as his father's face starting to become a little bit more relieved. He started to examine the things that were placed on his kitchen counter once more before he started to talk with his son once more.

"Well I know that you wouldn't listen if I asked you or punished you in the first place so I guess I'll just have to let you do it. Just try not to get hurt will you?" he said in a annoyed tone, starting to skin the animal for the boy and would then put it into their soup for more flavor. The boy slowly learned the way that the animal was skinned while his father did it, this would certainly make meals more interesting when it was only Ken who was in charge of the household.

"Don't worry, I'm one of the most stealthiest people that a person would known of." said the boy as he began to walk up to his room for some time for himself. He then starting to think a bit more about the Reaping tomorrow, would he be one of the people who would have to partake in such horrid events. He hoped not, but he knew that his chances were a bit worse than the others. Maybe God would shine a bright light on him for luck, or perhaps he would punish him for any crimes that he may have committed in the world. Ken sighed a little on the inside before he walked up and picked up the phone that was hooked up inside his room.

Slowly, he had dialed the number to the bakery and was now talking to the store owner.

"Oh it's you Ken, how's it going?" he said in a cheerful tone.

"Good for now. However, you know that the Reaping is tomorrow and that there is a chance that I could be one of the tributes for our District right?"

"Yes..." he said in a tone that went from cheerful to depressed.

"Well in case if I'm one of the people that have to join the Games, I want you to feed my family a bit if anything ever happens to me. You see, I'm one of the main food providers at the moment and they would surely starve if they didn't have me. Even if you can't feed my father, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could feed May. She could even start to work a little bit when she gets older!" said Ken in hopes that the baker would agree.

"Oh don't worry, I'll take good care of your family while you're away." said the baker in an optimistic tone. The boy smiled before saying "Thank you." and he hung up the phone, returning to his bed for the day. He looked up at the ceiling and hoped that tomorrow he would have luck. 


	3. Chapter 3: The Reaping Day

The whole family that night had greatly enjoyed the change in their dinner for the time being. They hoped that each and every one of them would be able to continue having a diet like this so they wouldn't turn into all skin and bones like they had previously thought. Ken was even a bit happy about this, just hoping that he would not be called in the Reaping which would take the food advantages that he had gave to his own family, one of the few things that he actually had in this dirt infested city of District Twelve.

Once everyone's stomachs were full, Ken had went off back to his own room and tried to sleep for the night. HE had dreams that he was being reaped and would die first. The way that he would die usually involved something with swords, axes, and knives. Considering that those were the only things that he had dreamed of, it was a much scarier thought of thinking WHAT ELSE could kill him in the arena. He had tossed and turned that night, waking up pretty early for the day of the Reaping. The Mockingjays around here had a slight hum and so he sat on the porch outside in the early morning to just listen to them.

"I wonder how my luck will play out today..." Ken said to himself with a small sigh. Hours had passed until it was time for the whole family to get ready for the horrid day, the Reaping. He had slowly gotten into his white T-Shirt and blue jeans. Almost everyone else in District Twelve had dressed this way, the girls wearing some dresses of some sort that were merely rages compared to the things that the Career Districts would have worn. All of the Clove family had finally gotten into their best garments and headed out to the meeting for District Twelve. Countless of people could be seen wearing the same clothes as them, and they also wore the same expression on their face as the Clove family did.

In just a few minutes, the escort for this District would come to the podium in order to announce the rules of this Quarter Quell and the participants that shall be in it. Everyone was pretty silent for the time being, the only sound being of the incoming residences' footsteps across the dirt road. The blonde haired boy looked around a bit and could notice Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark both with their own respective families with worried faces. Ken looked down at his sister and saw her stare into empty space in fear that her older brother would be one of the poor citizens to be chosen for the Hunger Games. He held her hands lightly which stopped her from shaking as much, but it did not change the expression that was still on her face by a bit.

"Please please lord, please make it so I don't get Reaped..." the adolescent thought silently in hope that his prayers would be heard by the lord up high in the Heavens. As time passed by, the escort had finally made her way into District Twelve. She was dressed in a purple long sleeve shirt, a black skirt, and a bright white pinkish wig with a giant purple flower in it. The most noticeable feature of her was how her skin color had been completely white. This was indeed the Capitol fashion sense.

She slowly made her way up to the stage and finally to the podium with the help of the Peacekeepers, the policemen of this land to protect her if anyone had decided to attack her. She had placed the microphone next to her mouth so she would be able to be heard.

"Hello everyone, I'm Effie Trinket." 


	4. Chapter 4: We Are Chosen

Every single one of the civilians from District Twelve had remained silent as her words had passed through the air. A person's heart would be pounding as hard as possible at this moment if they had been in this situation. May's grip on Ken's hands had tightened up quite a bit when Effie started to talk on the microphone. The woman from Capitol had slightly pushed up her hair to give it more "puff" before she continued on addressing the much needed information on these Hunger Games for the year. She began to look off a card for the Quarter Quell information.

"From President Snow, here is the information on the Quater Quell..." she said before she released a cough into the microphone which was pretty loud.

" "In remembrance of how all the Districts paired up in numbers to rebel against capitol, there shall be three tributes chosen from each District. The third tribute will be drawn from a the bowl filled with all boys and girls qualified for the Games. This will let you all remember that no matter how many people you have on your side, there shall be only one winner. And that the odds may or not be in your favor for the type of tribute you get." Effie had recited the tone in a cheerful tone before she was presented with the bowl filled with all the qualified males for the Hunger Games.

"I love hearing these speeches every time. Now as always, ladies first..." Slowly, she had picked one of the slips of paper and was ready to announce it.

"Primrose Everdeen!" she said. That was when chaos began to spread out everywhere. Prim was screaming very loudly and was starting to get dragged upstage, but Katniss started to chase after her, even shoving the Peacekeepers away.

"I volunteer as tribute!" yelled Katniss. Those words had brought great surprise to everyone. Even Effie was trying to regain her composure.

"No don't go Katniss!" cried Prim but she had been held back by her mother as her older sister went upstage.

"Well well...you're probably the first person in District Twelve to volunteer as tribute...let me guess, that was your sister?" the teenager had nodded "And what is your name?"

"Katniss Everdeen"

"Congratulations Mrs. Everdeen...let's give an applause!" Effie said, clapping solely by herself.

"Now it is time to pick the male tribute..." Effie said as her hand had constantly tackled each and every one of the paper slips until she had one that she liked. Trinket raised the paper high enough for her to read and was ready to announce the unlucky contestant.

"Peeta Mellark!"

"Peeta?" thought Ken in surprise. May had started to shed tears as the boy regretfully climbed up to the side of Effie Trinket. No, why did Peeta have to be part of the Games? He was a very good friend of his sister and he had been pretty nice to Ken as well. The blonde haired adolescent would have gladly volunteered for him if May had someone else other than her Father to protect her. Ken's throat had only became dry as he waited for the next tribute to be called up.

"The third tribute for the Quarter Quell is..." said Effie as she searched for the last tribute. Ken's heart started to pound faster and faster as each second has passed. What were the odds of him being called up. If he did get called up, he probably had less than a five percent chance of returning alive considering District Twelve's statistics in past Games.

"Ken Clove!" announced Effie with a smile across her face. That's when the whole world around Ken had seemed to fade away. Did he really just get called up to be in the Hunger Games? May had started to cry like Prim did, but even more louder and with even more emotion. The boy slowly let go of his sister's hand and began to walk upstairs, escorted by the Peacekeepers. Ken, Katniss, and Peeta had all exchanged a few looks before their escort was about to conclude this ceremony.

"Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favour!" she said with everyone kissing their three middle fingers and releasing them towards the three. This sign was one that said "Farewell, you were loved". It was this that was a death threat. The mayor had came and started to recite a speech, which none of the tributes had the time or the patience to even try listening to. At the end of the declaration, all tributes were forced to shake hands before they went of into the Justice Building right behind them. Each tribute went to their own rooms to await for any visitors that may come to see them.

Not paying attention to the others at the moment, Ken was with his own father and sister for the hour he would get. Ken's father had a distressed look implanted upon it, much like May's.

"Promise that you'll win!" cried May as she ran close to hug Ken. He patted her on the head as his father also gave him a hug.

"Boy don't get hurt..." said the adolescent's father. He nodded and gave them both a reassuring look.

"Don't worry, I won't die, and I'll make sure of it." said the blonde haired teen before May started to take off one of her most valued possessions, a blue toy watch that was the last thing her mother gave to her before her death. He looked deeply into her eyes and saw how much she wanted him to have it, so he took it and stuffed it inside his pocket. Peeta's father had then came to talk to Ken once more.

"Don't worry, I'll still take good care of your sister when you're in the games." he said as he gave Ken a small bag of cookies as he did for Katniss which Ken did not know of. Everyone have waved goodbye, some of them crying, as they were shoved out of the building and the trio began to get ready to board the train. 


	5. Chapter 5: Befriending The Bread Boy

The three tributes had made sure they had everything they needed before they were let outside. They were given just a few small minutes to remember the last bit of their District before they would be forced to board the train. The boy released a sigh of aggravation, why did it have to be all of them? Sure, if it wasn't them then it would only be someone else who would have to participate in these Hunger Games, but Ken only wished the best for his family much like Katniss did in a way. The adolescent had remembered Peeta's father talking about some brothers that he had not too long ago, and one of them had been around seventeen or eighteen years of age so he could've volunteered. Family devotion only goes so far during the Reaping Ken supposed.

The trio's small hour had passed by rather fast, a Peacekeeper had made his way in through the door a bit ruthlessly but had a somewhat gentle voice.

"Your time's up kids, it's time to board the train." said the Peacekeeper as the teenagers started to slowly make their way out of the building and were now walking down the stage steps. Ken looked ahead and could notice his sister not too far ahead, being held protectively by Father. The blonde haired child gave a thumbs up and a smile that was directed just at her. She cleaned the tears from her eyes and started to sadly wave goodbye once more.

It had been somewhat quiet on the train, the tributes had took in all of the expensive looking furniture that had decorated the interior of this moving vehicle known as a train. The seats had been covered in velvet while the wooden base for them had been mahogany. Ken had let his fingers slowly take in the feel of the furniture for a few seconds before the train had started to continue its trip. He looked out of the window in order to give on last wave goodbye, but the vehicle moved so fast that hand movements seemed to be just a blur. After a few minutes of checking everything to make sure things were going accordingly to plan, Effie Trinket, their escort, had directed them into the middle of the lounge area in order to discuss the Pre-Game actives.

"This train is going over three hundred miles per an hour, and we should make our way to the Capitol by tomorrow. While you're on this train, feel free to indulge yourself in the finest things that the Capitol has to offer during this ride. There's this lounge area, a cafeteria, a small recreational room, and a room for each of you to sleep in at night. However, once we arrive at our destination, be ready to get a makeover for the opening ceremonies. The ceremony makes the first impression, so make yourselves look dignified for possible sponsors that will be watching you. You'll have two days to train for the Hunger Games, and you will then have your Private session with the Gamemakers. Remember, higher scores mean more sponsors!" said Effie Trinket in such an optimistic tone.

Most of the three had been completely ignoring her small speech since it was pretty obvious what happened for the routine. After all, all of them have been watching the Games for at least ten years. The only one seeming to pay attention at all was Peeta, and even he had been looking at the ground for most of the time.

"Now feel free to do whatever you please, but be ready for dinner which will be served promptly at seven o' clock." With that, Katniss and immediately went to her room leaving only Effie, Peeta, and Ken in the room. Haymitch, their mentor, was supposed to be here but he must have been in his room drinking the whole time. From a small amount of observation, the youngest of the three had noticed that Peeta and Katniss did not seem like the most sociable type. In fact, it was as if they were purposefully avoiding each other, not daring to share a single gaze.

"Want to go to the recreational room?" asked Peeta. The boy gave a nod and the two made their way into the dark blue carpeted room. The lights had highlights all of the activities that would have been otherwise impossible to do in District Twelve. A bowling alley, darts, a card table, and a small bar ranging from simple water to exotic fruit mixtures to alcoholic beverages. It took both of the blonde haired teenagers a few minutes to take in all of their surroundings before either of them had decided to do anything.

"Want to get a few drinks and just sit around?" asked Ken.

"Sure." Peeta replied swiftly before they started making their way to the bar. The fourteen year old searched through the cabinets to find something suitable for the both of them. It was then that the boy had been a bit confused. A lot of these liquids were ones that the boy had never even heard of. Of course, they had been made only in the upper Districts and the Capitol so the lower class had no reason to even enhance their knowledge on these.

"Anything specific you want?"

"Something simple." the baker had said. The boy reached over a bottle of something called "Cool Crisp" and poured it into his own glass to get a taste.

"I guess this will do." said Ken as he started pouring a bit of the bubbly liquid into both of their glasses. Both of them had then took a sip here and there, but didn't utter a word at the time. After all, both of them had just been chosen to participate in Games that were commonly known as the graveyard for District Twelve.

"So...did your parents have anything to say?" asked the youth. Saying this, he could see that he struck a chord in the bread baker's eyes. He instantly looked away from the boy, waiting a few seconds before talking.

"My dad said good luck."

"What about your mother-" the boy said before instantly regretting what he had just said. He should've known better, Peeta's mother being known as the witch of District Twelve who did nothing but bitch at you.

"She said that Twelve might have a winner this year...she said "She's a fighter that one"." Mellark had said as he slowly turned his gaze back to the boy.

"...sorry." Ken had said since he didn't know what else to do at the time. The older male had simply sighed and took another drink of the Cool Crisp.

"No problem."

Nothing but an awkward silence could have been heard in the recreational area, dead as a graveyard.

Time had passed inside the train, perhaps a few hours. Peeta and Ken had done nothing but drink the refreshing beverages and talk a little bit about themselves since they haven't done so in the past. Mellark had explained all of his daily chores while Ken was informing him of how he took care of his family. Both teenage boys had been a bit impressed by the other, congratulating each other jokingly with a toast. By now, the sun was the color of creamy orange, the sky being illuminated to the shade of pink by the solar object that brought life.

"It's a few minutes away from seven. We should go get ready for dinner," said Peeta as he got up and disposed of his drinking glass. His younger blonde haired companion had replied with a nod of his head and did the same. Both of the gentlemen had made their way to the bathroom and began to wash their face, Katniss knocking on the door before coming in as well.

"Hey" said the female hunter as she slowly walked in and began washing her face over and over with the water. In a few minutes, all three tributes had finished cleansing their faces and brushing their hair. Once done, they walk out of the wooden door and into the dining area, greeted by the exotic smells of an expensive feast. There had been so many meats, fruits, drinks, and deserts that one would have thought that this was the Capitol.

"Good, all of you are here on time. There's nothing I hate more than being late!" Effie had said cheerfully as he placed the last plate upon the white clothed table before seating herself. All the District Twelve tributes had gave a look to one another for a second or so before sitting themselves down. Ken Clove didn't have any idea on what to have first, he had never seen so much at one time. Should he eat the soup that was complimented with foreign herbs? Or perhaps he should indulge himself in one of the steaks that had been cooked perfectly and seasoned exceptionally.

"Go on go on, eat as much as you like!" said Effie as she had daintily placed a piece of chicken on her plate and filled a small bowl with salad. The sparkles that had been born on those green leaves of lettuce had soon been covered by a thick layer of salad dressing. Their jaws almost dropping to the floor, the teenagers had sat down, sparing no time, and started to fill their plates with the delicious delicacies. On Ken's plate had been a steak drenched in a sauce that was something between barbeque and steak sauce, toasted bread covered in high caliber cheese only found in Capitol, a soup that had been flavored by bits of crabs and shrimp, and a bowl of fruit salad. The other two had put just as much on their plates if not more. The dinner had passed by rather quietly, the only sound being a cough here and the occasional stirring of a glass.

"I must say, I'm glad that the three of you have decent manners unlike the pair from last year. They had been like animals, eating with their hands as if they never seen silverware." she said. In a way, this had pissed Ken off just a little bit seeing as how a lot of the District Twelve civilians never had enough to eat, but he remained calm and just continued eating. However, Katniss had surely been mad, as she had wiped her hands on the cloth which forced such a look of disgust upon the escort's mouth.

After the somewhat decent meal, Effie had directed the three back into the living room in order to see the Reaping recaps for all the other Districts. Not wanting to see it, the three had just sighed and went to sit on the expensive furniture as Effie took the remote and turned on the television, a flat screen.

From District One, there had been quite a sexy looking lady along with a very tall boy. The third tribute being a girl who was about as tall as Ken himself. In District Two, there had been an abnormal short woman, quite uncommon there, and a male who had lunged forward before they drew the next name. The last tribute for their District had been a male who was around five foot nine. None of the other tributes from the Districts had made their marks in Ken's mind other than a young twelve year old girl from District Eleven and a very broad male with her. It was then that the Reaping of District Twelve had been brodcasted.

On the screen, you could hear the loud screaming of Prim as she was carried away and the brave atmosphere that Katniss had projected. You would also see Peeta, just standing there in shock. And at last you would see Ken who seemed a little surprised but just tired for the most part. Out of all of the Reapings, the one from Twelve was surely going to be talked about for a while, hopefully bringing in sponsors. What had concluded the Reaping was Haymitch running up on stage, only to fall off of it from being too intoxicated to stand up straight. This had made the three of them laugh a little bit, only angering their escort to the extremes.

"You do realize that your mentor is the only ticket you have for staying alive in the arena don't you," said Effie as Haymitch had came stumbling in, throwing up on the floor and falling down into his own vomit "So go ahead and laugh while your only chance of survival is taken away from you!" yelled the Capitol resident as she made a look of disgust and speed walked to her room. Peeta looked down at the man, having a look of pitty in his eyes.

"I'll clean him up and put him to bed. The both of you can go ahead and go to sleep." said Peeta as he started to pick up their drunken mentor. A helper on the train had offered to help clean him up, but Peeta only declined their help.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" the boy said, feeling that he owed him something for being so nice to his sister in the past.

"No, I can handle this. The both of you should just go to bed." he said with a small smile. He wasn't doing this because he had to, he was doing this to be nice. 


	6. Chapter 6: There Is Still Hope

Ken had only shared a nod with the other male tribute before he started to make his way to his room. Katniss had brushed right past him, an ominous aura had surrounded her being. It was a bit too ominous, the type that would have made him suspicious of her motives if they were not already acquaintances. He was right down the hall when he looked back and saw Peeta dragging Haymitch by his arms into the bathroom. The whole scene was so pathetic that it had made the adolescent feel a little sorry for . But he did not feel like doing anything else for the time being, so he decided to make his way to his room and go to sleep.

The boy's head had rested softly upon the exquisite pillows designed by the Capitol, a pure white surface with light blue lacing. He looked out the window, only to see the bright light that had flashed from the ever growing moon.

"The Hunger Games...only one of us is going to win. It's a bitch to think I'll have to murder Katniss and Peeta...but what else can I do?" the boy asked himself before releasing a sigh into the tense atmosphere surrounding him. What could he do?

"Me; Everyone is just a pawn in the Capitol's Games. Physically, we might have a chance to take over, but that is not the point for this case. From so many years of these Games and the other limitations, the Districts are just not mentally built for a Rebellion. We've grown to think that were are completely powerless...and that's where it all ended." Ken Clove had told himself as he was now sitting on his bed and continued to look out into the starry night. He only turned away to look at the blue watch that his sister had gave him earlier that day.

"I have to win this...sorry Katniss...sorry Peeta...sorry to myself..." said the blonde. And with those words, he had laid back once more upon his pillow and drifted off into the dream realm. It was something to be expected, a dream of The Hunger Games. He could see it now, the Bloodbath just began. He immediately started to run away, only to be caught by a throwing knife that was launched by a Career. What had made this worse was now he was paralyzed from an immense pain. Powerless. Scared. Those were the words that were best to describe the situation of The Hunger Games and the Districts against the Capitol.

It was then that he had awakened. He felt nothing except the cold freezing sweat that had covered his body. What time was it, eight o' clock? Yes, that sounds about right. Reluctantly, Ken got out of bed and started to walk to the showers. Bit by bit he had undressed until he was completely nude and the water from the shower pounding against his body. The bathing equipment made in the Capitol was very high tech, something that you had to mess with for a few minutes before you got any idea how to make warm water. After about ten minutes of cleansing his body, he had finally gotten out and clothed himself in a black T-Shirt and blue jeans. He looked around the corner, seeing that Haymitch and Peeta had already been there. They had been indulging themselves in the fine delicacies such as hot chocolate for Peeta and regular liquor for Haymitch.

"Good morning," said the baker as he softly raised his glass up high.

"Good morning," replied the boy as he took a seat and grabbed a mug of hot chocolate and sipped it silently. Right after the teen had seated himself, Katniss had made her way around the corner and took a seat as well, grabbing a mug of hot chocolate for herself.

"This kid was just beginning to ask me for tips on staying alive," said their mentor before he took a sip of his expensive booze.

"So what are the first things you do when the Games start?" Haymitch Abenathy had asked as a test.

"We're supposed to runaway, find water, and build a fire?" the bread baker had answered.

"You wouldn't build a fire. The smoke would attract all of the other tributes to your location." replied the female blandly as she now looked at her mentor. Ken really did feel like the odd one in the group, but he had chose to just sit in his seat and watch the conversation flow, or sink.

"So do you got any advice for the Games?" asked Peeta.

"Stay alive," Haymitch had said before he had a small laugh and drank his liquor. The baker had stood up and walked closer to their line of surviving.

"That's funny," he said before he knocked the glass out of Haymitch's hands. "Except not to us."

With that, the old drunk had got up out of his seat and looked at the boy for a second. After that second, his fist had impacted the side of Mellark's jaw which caused him to fall onto the ground. On instinct, Ken quickly got the knife near him and was holding it very close to the man's neck. While he did this, Katniss had shoved the knife in her hand through the table, between Haymitch's hand and his glass of liquor.

"It looks like I got some fighter this year...I guess I might actually train you a bit since you look worthy." their mentor had said. A look of relief could be seen across everyone's face at the time while the baker got up and returned to his seat, as did Katniss and Peeta.

"I'll stay sober enough to help you for the Games, but you'll have to promise not to interrupt my drinking." the older gentleman had declared. On instinct, all three tributes from District Twelve had shook their heads in agreement while Abenathy had took another sip of his drink.

"Stand up again so I can see what I have to work with." the male said. All three of the tributes had followed his rules and stood up. At times he had felt the strength of their legs and arms while the other times he would just look at the three.

"It looks like all hope isn't lost."

A look of relief had made its way on all three tributes' faces. If he thought that all hope wasn't lost, then that gave them a higher chance of survival than the previous tributes ever had. After all, Haymitch Abenathy had won these Games before. Maybe, just maybe Ken would win these Games after all.

"Can you two do anything else with those knives?" Haymitch said jokingly. Being somewhat decent with throwing knives, a small hobby of his, Ken threw the knife by the blade. He had aimed the attack on a map of Panem that was on the wall, the Capitol to be more exact.

"It'll hit our destination," the boy said. Luckily, the blade had stuck right in the designated area which had showed that he was a bit skilled with blade. Katniss had not told of a target that she was aiming for, but she did manage to stick the blade between two wall boards.

"I see...well we'll talk more about a strategy for the Games once we reach the Capitol and are in our rooms. I want the three of you to do exactly what your stylists tell you to do, no objections." said their mentor. Katniss, Peeta, and Ken all shook their heads in agreement. For the rest of the ride, the trio had just sat around and slowly finished their breakfast. It was about an hour until they could see the outside of their leaders.

"They don't exaggerate what they show on TV..." Peeta had said while he was in awe of the beauty the city portrayed. Being a bit curious, Ken walked by him and looked out of the window as well, as did Katniss.

"I never thought that something could look this good..." the youngest child said. How did they manage to make such a dreadful place to the Districts this beautiful? It was like a rose, so beautiful yet dangerous. The looks of this city were only here to show that they were superior to the Districts. They wanted to make sure that they were the leaders in every way. Food, money, housing. The only thing the people of Capitol had failed to be the leader of was fashion, at least for themselves.

"We're almost there, be ready to meet up with your stylists. Remember what Haymitch said, do everything that they tell you and don't resist." said Effie cheerfully as she was applying one last layer of powder on her face. If one did not believe that they were in the Games before, they would surely have now.

'Well this is where it will all begin. The Games. May. Father. I have to win this for both of you...But what are the odds that I will have to kill Peeta and Katniss? I don't want to do that, and I wonder if they are thinking the same as me. If none of us want to kill the other, then how will these Games end? Would all three of us win if we did nothing...? No, that would never happen. The Capitol would just kill all three of us to show their dominance. Bastards. That is what they are, and that is what they'll ever be.' thought the boy when the train was passing by the huge crowd.

'Even if they are bastards, I have no choice but to please the hell out of them.'

Still standing by the window, the boy waved to the crowd with a huge grin spread across his face. Being smart, Peeta had done the same and was just as 'enthusiastic' as him. The people in their rainbow colored clothing were releasing screams of excitement as they clapped. Children had been pulled back to make sure they would not get lost in the huge crowd. Other people had flashed their cameras in order to take pictures of this 'glorious' occasion. They would be watching all thirty-six of the tributes fight to the death. Now is just the beginning. 


	7. Update

Hey guys. I'd like some reviews to see how you guys like it so far. Incase you didn't see it yet, this isn't going to be a story focusing mainly on Peeta and Ken. I just put that since Ken is finding Peeta to be the best friend out of all the others. Leave some reviews for me baby :D

Oh. And if you're curious, this is rated M for explicit language. There might be references of sexual intercourse (but Ken's not involved pedo's), but it will all depend. 


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